Archeological Monitoring and Limited Testing During 2001-2003 at the Monroe Elementary School and Playground Field, Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, Shawnee County, Kansas

Summary

Following the Civil War and Reconstruction Period, African-Americans struggled to find equal opportunity in the southern states. As a result of the Homestead Act of 1862 and continuing racial oppression, African-Americans began migrating westward during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in search of new economic and social opportunities. The “Exoduster” migration into Kansas and Nebraska caused a significant ethnic transformation that is still evident to the present day.

This report presents a detailed analysis and synthesis of the findings from eight archeological projects conducted by the Midwest Archeological Center from 2001 to 2003 at Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas, documenting a working-class neighborhood settled during the westward expansion of the United States. Each of the monitoring projects was related to the rehabilitation of the Monroe Elementary School as the core historic resource for the park and for use as the park’s visitor center.

Limited test excavations were also conducted during one of these projects to better define the stone foundation of a historic structure. Five historic structural foundations, one brick well, and numerous depositional features were identified in the course of the 2001–2003 monitoring projects. In all, 481 artifacts were collected during monitoring and testing, providing significant information concerning the late 19th and early-20th-century occupation and lifeways of the Monroe School neighborhood prior to the construction of the Monroe Elementary School in 1926.

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Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Midwest Archeological Center; United States Department of the Interior; National Park Service; United States Department of the Interior

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